Racing 92 and Camille Chat ‘mutually’ part ways after hooker’s ‘drunken’ scandal
Camille Chat's 12-year Racing 92 to career has come to a swift end after the club confirmed his release with immediate effect.
Racing 92 have parted ways with club stalwart Camille Chat, bringing an end to the hooker’s 12-year spell at the Parisian team.
Chat had been laid off for two weeks pending the decision of a disciplinary hearing which has now resulted in a ‘mutual agreement’ that the two parties should split ties.
“One party more in agreement”
This comes after the former French international hooker, who represented Les Bleus 33 times, arrived at training still drunk from the night before.
According to reports in France, after the defeat to Sale Sharks in the Investec Champions Cup, Chat and fellow hooker Janick Tarrit turned up to training on the Monday still feeling the effects of the end-of-year celebrations from the night before.
While a statement from the Top 14 club claimed the separation was amicable, a Midi Olympique source quipped that “one party was more in agreement than the other”.
Chat was reportedly in ‘a state supposedly unfit for playing rugby’ after the evening out with Tarrit, a claim that the player fiercely denies but the incident is not the first that has angered the Racing 92 bigwigs.
In 2023, the hooker ‘accidentally’ injured Fijian winger Vinaya Habosi during a training camp in Valencia with the latter now set to leave the club at the end of the season as well after he was arrested for a second domestic abuse claim.
Meanwhile, Tarrit has since featured for Racing 92 following a week suspension by the club but sustained an ankle injury against Toulon.
Chat leaves Racing 92
Chat’s contract with Racing 92 was set to expire in 2027 and despite the recent events, the 29-year-old is bound to find a new club with little fuss.
A fan favourite at the Parisian team, the hooker played 188 matches for Racing 92 with his performances regularly leading to involvements with the French national side.
A talented player, there is a feeling of wasted potential with the front-rower who was primed to be France’s long-term starting hooker following the retirement of Guilhem Guirado after the 2019 Rugby World Cup but his chances have been spoiled by injury, a dip in form and now off-field shenanigans.
Racing 92 are unlikely to recruit further cover for this season with Wallaby Feleti Kaitu’u arriving as a medical joker late last year and while Tarrit is injured, there are further options in Robin Couly and Chilean international Diego Escobar.
